Deathstorm
Deathstorm, the first of the revived Black Lanterns and self-proclaimed "death incarnate," is a duplicate of Black Lantern Firestorm created from the minds of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch. Though he holds no Power Ring like the first, he is just as powerful, if not more. ''Blackest Night'' During the Blackest Night event, the first Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) came "back to life" as a member of the Black Lantern Corps and went on a tirade alongside his fellow Black Lanterns. But then, after discovering the existence of Jason Rusch and Gehenna Hewitt, he turned his full attention to the lovers and severed the connection between Gehenna and Jason. After he grabbed Gehenna by the throat and began to choke her, Jason tried to pull Black Lantern Firestorm away from her only to end up fusing with him. With Jason now trapped inside the menacing Black Lantern, nothing is able to stop him from acquiring the chemical formula for table salt from Jason's mind. Fueled by Nekron's desire to destroy all life and his own desire to torture the couple and bring their love to an end, Black Lantern Firestorm used the information unwillingly given to him to turn Gehenna's entire body into the aforementioned compound while forcing Jason to watch in horror as his beloved dies screaming in absolute pain and subsequently has her heart torn out. At one point, Jason manages to gain a measure of control over the Black Lantern and warns The Flash of Nekron's return, but is then forced out of "the drivers seat" by Black Lantern Firestorm and isn't seen again until The Flash (who was wielding a Blue Lantern Power Ring at the time) and Saint Bro'dee Walker try using the Blue Light of Hope to sever Jason from his girlfriend's murderer. Later, after Nekron's ultimate defeat, The Entity brought twelve heroes and villains, including Ronnie, back to life. However, Jason, who believed that it really was Ronnie who killed Gehenna, attacked him only to be restrained and escorted away from Ronnie. Brightest Day With Ronnie Raymond's life restored, he attempts to go back to living his normal life, but is often plagued with visions and memories of his time as a Black Lantern. Despite him trying to tell Jason he was not in control of his actions, Jason still blames, and hates Ronnie for the death of his girlfriend. Ronnie's visions get more intense as an incarnation of Gehenna enters his room and begins to strangle him. As a friend of Ronnie's comes in, she explodes leaving a layer of salt through out his room. Due to reasons out of their control, Ronnie and Jason must fuse to become Firestorm, but often the two hear a voice, who they think is the other mocking them. Both hearing the voice at the same time, Ronnie and Jason realize they're not alone, there is a third personality in the Firestorm Matrix. Going to Professor Stein with their concerns, the Professor tells Firestorm of the true nature of their matrix and it's true power. He tells them that their Matrix is essentially a second big bang, and if they were to cause a disturbance in it, the entire universe would be destroyed. Stein tells them if that were to happen all that would be left would be "only the two of you". With that, the third voice chimes in saying "And me. Righteous!" Black hands begin to emerge from Firestorm's chest, separating Ronnie and Jason, and all that remains is the newly emerged Deathstorm, the first Black Lantern to return. Deathstorm then introduces himself to Professor Stein, who begs Deathstorm not to kill Ronnie and Jason. Deathstorm tells Stein to relax and explains that his plans were to put them through so much emotional torture that they would come to hate each other and, in doing so, re-create the Big Bang event and destroy the Universe. After introducing himself properly, he also explained that Jason and Ronnie created him and that, as death personified, he was completely unstoppable. Deathstorm goes on to explain the "true" secret of the Universe, that the concepts of good and evil do not exist and that there was only dead and alive. Then, as Ronnie was waking up, Deathstorm forced Professor Stein to fuse with him and then remarked to Ronnie about how terrible it is to let a good mind go to waste. Ronnie and Jason attempted to bargain with Deathstorm, but to no avail and then attempted to fight him as Firestorm but before they could Alvin Rusch, Jason's father, was teleported from his home and absorbed into Deathstorm's being. Thus upping the stakes in the current hostage situation with Stein and making it literally impossible for Firestorm to attack Deathstorm, lest they run the risk of harming or even killing Alvin and Stein. Deathstorm then traveled to the White Lantern Battery with Firestorm on hot pursuit and infected the White Lantern with his dark energy in order to make it lighter, but before Deathstorm could destroy it the voice of an unknown entity commanded him to stop. The voice ordered Deathstorm to bring the White Lantern to them, obviously wanting not only to control the power of life but also stop the Twelve from completing their missions and ensure that a new savior could never be chosen. Deathstorm heeded the voice's command and created eleven Black Lanterns ( Professor Zoom, Maxwell Lord, Osiris, Captain Boomerang, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Deadman) using matter from his own body to assist him in transporting the White Lantern to their new "employer". Deathstorm was then later seen resting in a cavern, alone, screwing around with the heads of Alvin and Stein. Once he was finished playing around, Deathstorm picked up the White Lantern and continued onward with his journey. It was eventually revealed that the voice who had been commanding Deathstorm and the other Lanterns to bring it The White Lantern was none other than The Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor plan had been to use The White Lantern to create life he could consume and in doing so would increase his power an infinite number of times over, making him literally unstoppable. When The White Lantern fought back and momentarily distracted Deathstorm and the others, Firestorm launched an all-out attack on The Anti-Monitor and managed to transform his helmet into hydrogen before Deathstorm and his fellow Lanterns could get the drop on them. After The Anti-Monitor had separated Ronnie and Jason and began demanding to know why they were working with The White Lantern against him, Deathstorm became bored and separated Professor Stein from his form and attempted to use Alvin's hatred for life as power to destroy Jason, despite having been ordered by The Anti-Monitor to refrain from consuming them until he got what he wanted from them. Deathstorm fired upon Jason who was blocked by Ronnie and in turn Professor Stein, which the blast hit and turned the Professor to salt. Deathstorm's actions infuriated The Anti-Monitor, who assaulted them and demanded that they obey him. After trying to calm down The Anti-Monitor, Deathstorm and his Lanterns prepared to strike once more at Ronnie and Jason, who had merged into Firestorm again, only to end up being destroyed by the power of The White Lantern. Alvin was exorcised from Deathstorm's body before he was obliterated. Power and Abilities Despite being a mere copy of the Black Lantern Firestorm that was subconsciously created from the minds of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch, Deathstorm possesses all of the original's powers but does not require a Black Lantern Power Ring or Power Battery to wield them as it appears that he might have his own "Black Lantern" Firestorm Matrix to store and draw his dark/anti-matter power from. Deathstorm can also transmute organics into whatever he desires. For Deathstorm, creating Black Lanterns out of dirt or turning one's blood into acid, is as simple as breathing. In ULTIMA Category:Antagonists Category:Organization Category:Seekers of Darkness Category:Dark Masters